MamaCharlie has Parkinson's. It causes her problems with balance, movement, and pain and makes it difficult for her to walk at all sometimes...long walks are out of the question. So when we took off with HBW and LH for a mini-vacation to Mount Rushmore, we thought taking a wheelchair along would be a good idea, enabling MC to go where everyone else went. We arrived at the monument, got MC in the chair and started into the park when Maddie, our little grandaughter, wanted to push the chair. My initial reaction was amusement, but Maddie was serious and so I gave her a shot at it. I figured she would be worn out quickly and I would take the helm again.

After you go through the pillars dividing the parking area from the main part of the park, there is a walkway that is about forty feet across and more than fifty yards long - granite pillars with the state flags, all framing the faces on the mountain. It is a slight uphill to the viewing balcony. Once I realized that, I offered to take over but Maddie said she was all right. Halfway up the walkway she was leaning hard into the chair. She was working hard. A slight dewy mist was forming on her forehead and upper lip. She bore down and pushed harder. I was absolutely amazed. What a little trooper. We got to the end where it opened up onto a wide viewing balcony and she finally slowed and stood upright. She then, and only then, happily gave up the chair and let me take over. She spent the rest of the time riding on Grandma's lap. We visited the touristy shops, ate lunch and walked around the trails, and all the way, Maddie kept up a commentary with her Grandma and anyone else (family and strangers alike) who was in earshot. At one point, as we looked almost straight up into George W's nose, Maddie informed us that that was where the boogers were.

She offered to push the chair down to the parking lot, but I talked her out of it...that would have been a bit too much for her. As we were winding down the road, getting our last look at the faces, Maddie waved to them and said, "Thanks for being here, Mountain Guys!"

Six year-old Maddie is an awesome kid, all forty or so pounds of her. And she loves her Grandma.